Presentation from Prof. Chris Jones of Liverpool John Moores University, to ELESIG Symposium on Learner Analytics, 4 November 2013 at University of Liverpool. See more from this event at http://elesig.ning.com/profiles/blogs/elesig-learner-analytics-symposium-at-university-of-liverpool-4th

1. Learner and student experience in
an age of austerity: how is the
agenda set?
Chris Jones
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2. Introduction
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3. Austerity
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Kal: - http://www.economist.com/node/21553519

4. What is learner experience?
• Experience – mixes together notions of
knowledge with feelings and time
– Learners and knowledge
– Learners and their feelings
– The ‘now’ and the learners future
• ‘transform the learning experience to meet
the students’ needs’ (JISC)
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5. Transforming the students experience
• Austerity and UK student course fees
– Not a ‘cheap’ option
– Shifts balance from ‘public good’ to private
debt
• A hidden curriculum
– Debt and repayment
– Individual competition
– Consumer not citizen
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6. The contemporary experience
• What are students
learning?
• What are universities
selling?
• What are students
buying?
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7. Private profit and public interest
• The student experience as consumer
– Personal responsibility for cost of education
– Personal cost and personal gain
• Why should ‘I’ pay for schools…?
• The student experience as citizen
– Shared responsibility for costs
– Social costs and shared gains
• Student ‘owes’ responsibility to others
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8. A contemporary learner experience
4.4 The learner experience in
MOOCs
There is a strong emphasis on learner
independence and peer support in
MOOCs. Partly this is a result of their
scale and that they are free – the
providers of the course cannot afford to
employ sufficient staff to provide
support. (my emphasis)
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/open-education/conte
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9. MOOCs and policy hype
• cMOOC or xMOOC
– Dialogue
– Transmission
– Local variation
• Edinburgh Digital
Cultures (Coursera)
• Student experience
– Consumer?
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10. Phenomenography and the learner
experience
• The study of variation in conceptions of
phenomena
– Began Sweden 1970s (Marton, Säljö)
– Popularised 1980s ‘90s
• Began as empirical research
– Epistemology and ontology clarified later
– Popularly associated with ‘deep’ and ‘surface’
learning
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11. Deep and Surface
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12. Approaches and contexts
• Phenomenography stresses student
approaches (relational)
– Approaches are not styles
– Approach influenced by context
• Teaching
• Space and place
• Networked learning
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13. Approaches to learning
• Phenomenography
underpins:
– Qualitative research
– Quantitative work – Approaches to
Study inventories (ASI, ASSIST)
– Related work e.g. Biggs
constructive alignment, 3P model
– Course Experience Questionnaire
(Ramsden 1991)
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14. The 3 P model
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15. From academic research to…
• “…the widespread and usually
unquestioning use of this model imposes
limitations on the way that research data
about student learning are both generated
and understood.” (Haggis 2003)
• The research has become a dominant
policy paradigm
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16. Student experience and austerity
• There is currently little focus on the
broader student experience
• The learner experience is seen as a
‘technical’ issue
– A narrow form of rationality
– Student needs are not fixed
• Policy helps form them
• We reap what we sow…
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17. The costs of HE
• A fall in the percentage of GDP spent on university
funding between 2008 and 2013 in 10 EU countries and
an increase in eight (EUA 2013).
• In the UK (England and Wales) university spending is
falling as a proportion of GDP. After rising from 2008 to
2011, expenditure fell to 0.46% of GDP
http://www.eua.be/Libraries/Governance_Autonomy_Funding/
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18. Students and analytics
• The prospect of new sources
– Traces without intervention
• Who’s in charge?
– Managed experience
• Who’s data
– What happens to aggregate data
• Google apps etc
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educause

19. Students form their own experiences
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